Quick Tomato Salad

Yesterday we picked up two more pints of cherry tomatoes - green, yellow, red and purple. Today's lunch spotlighted their fresh juiciness. Just rinse, halve and sprinkle with feta. A drizzle of balsamic vinegar and lunch is served!

And We're Back... with Tomato Sweet Onion Crumble and Yellow Squash!

It may be impossible for me to explain how very glad I am to have my internet service back, both for blogging purposes and for general connection to the rest of the world. While I missed the opportunity to blog about the Scandinavian limpa bread, the pink lemonade bars, or the Indian Butter Chicken, there are plenty of recipes left for the summer.

This week, I leaned heavily on the simple goodness of the vegetables themselves. We adopted a dog this week, which cut my cooking down a little bit.

Welcome to Brooks!

 We still had some squash sitting in the back of the fridge, waiting their turn at the dinner table. Drew decided on a simple squash and onion roast under the broiler. A bit of olive oil, a dash of pepper and deliciousness ensued.

The trick with this recipe is to slice the squash as uniformly as possible and to err on the thin side. Roasting brings out the tender sweetness of the vegetable and the squash is a wonderful canvas for almost any flavor you want to layer on.

Our growing pile of fresh tomatoes (cherry, heirloom, and red) has been a nagging problem for me. Ever since I learned I shouldn't can on my flat, ceramic cook top I have been at a bit of a loss on what to do with the red, yellow and orange bounty. I've been eating tomatoes and feta for breakfast, slicing them onto every possible sandwich and tossing slices with olive oil and Hawaiian Black Lava Salt. Last night, it was time for a Tomato and Sweet Onion Crumble.

Sauteed onions and garlic formed the base of the dish.

Next up is a layer of tomatoes, basil and oregano.

A quick whirl through the blender, and the parmesan, baguette slices, and butter created the crunchy topping for the tart.

 Delicious!

Sorry for the Delay Folks...

Our internet has been abominable over the last week - we've only had intermittent access at odd hours of the day. So I thought I'd add a quick update without pictures to keep up from falling behind...

We've been taking luscious heirloom tomatoes, drizzling them with olive oil and sprinkling them with black Hawaiian lava salt. I totally lifted this from a local restaurant and it works wonderfully. We've also been popping supersweet cherry tomatoes directly into our mouths and juicing beets. The last of summer lettuces graced our plates last night along with crisp carrots and pistachio nuts.

Coming up, summer squash and tomato gratin, Nicoise salad with fresh tuna, and hopefully some sort of onion tart if I can find the right recipe - and please, please, please let me know if you have one I should try.

In the meantime, enjoy the summer weather and dig into your own local food source!

Squash, Onions, Jalapenos and ... Drew!

This week I really wanted to attend a free tomato canning class at the local farm center and that left my DH to create our Curried Squash Soup. Thanks to my BIL for helping with photography!

I pitched in at the last minute with a watermelon, tomato, mint and feta salad.

Drew started with some of our abundant summer squash. Next to the pot -  some previously frozen chopped onion and some frozen chopped jalapenos from previous weeks. (I love prepping onions and peppers that way to cut down on pre-dinner chopping!)

Because we end up with so many vegetables each week I have started to contemplate preservation methods and proper storage with a lot more focus. A really helpful website can be found here - it spells out exactly how to prepare and store vegetables for the longest life. It is a great planning tool for me; I now know that I can put off the cabbage a bit longer than the squash. I also have started cutting up and freezing any peppers or onions I am not likely to use within a week and washing and freezing herbs. It is very easy to extend the life of you herbs in this way.

Beautiful Veggie Tuesday!

Every week, new vegetables! This week brought us some things we have never tried - big heirloom tomatoes and red cabbage, along with the familiar favorites like green beans, onions, squash and thyme. Luckily I have been haunting my friends for new and exciting ways to use these common plants and I have found some good options. Tomorrow, I'll be trying Laura Norvell's Curried Squash Soup with a tomato-feta-mint salad. Tune in!

Tonight, I just threw some of the new onions, thyme, and a handful of mushrooms into a skillet and covered their sauteed selves with fresh farm eggs and cream. Simple, quick and absolutely delicious when you add a bit of gruyere!

Does anything smell as good as sauteed onions with thyme?